My Visit to the Art Gallery

I visited the Arkansas Art Gallery in Little Rock. Though I knew of its location as I have been to the MacArthur museum next door, it was the first time I had visited the gallery itself. Before I made the trip, I checked their website online to see if I might find a particular artist that I may want to see. According to their website I would find Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh amongst their artwork, which had me excited and more willing to go to this particular art gallery.

As I walked through their doors, it felt inviting with its spacious entrance. To my left was a set of doors, leading to the sketched portraits. Next to it, a set of doors, standing open, leading to their gift shop and diner. I continued to walk straight, stopping at the desk to pick up a few brochures, then continued walking all the way to the back, where I was greeted by two sets of doors. One set in front of me, which held one particular collection of artwork owned by someone who had loaned his pieces to the gallery. Then there was a set of doors to my right, leading to the main gallery. I took the doors to my right.

When I walked through a small room and into another something caught my eye. It was a sculpture done by Judy Onofrio. I found it beautiful, colorful, bright, different, and it also had my attention. I love mosaics. I found myself staring at it, looking it over closely for more than a half hour. A lady that worked there as one of the security personnel saw me staring at the piece came over to point out a few items she’s found in it herself. We talked about it for a few minutes, before I asked if I could snap a few pictures of it, so that I could look at it carefully at home. She told me I could, but there are other parts of the gallery where photography was not allowed and that I would find signs posted, warning me.

I had a notebook with me and decided to write down some of the things that I found in the sculpture, broken china teacups and saucers, marbles, broken mirror, bottle caps, sea shells, springs, safety pins, door latches and hooks, old perfume bottle tops, tourist momento from Mount Rushmore, keys, and a thermometer. Those were a few items that really caught my eye, but the list could go on and on. The sculpture was title “Things I’ve Found” and what a great title for it too. I’ve often wanted to do something like this, but for items that I’ve found on the beach; litter and things that has washed up on shore.

I decided to leave the sculpture and continue on into the gallery where I found myself joining a tour. I looked around me to see who all was listening in on the tour and felt slightly out of place. Even though I’m often picked on for looking younger than my thirty-five years of age, this time I felt it as I was surrounded by a group of senior citizens. I continued on with the tour, listening to the tour guide talk about the Mark Rothko exhibit. She was very informative in the artist life and his work. She would point out to certain paintings and talk about what it symbolized and its meaning. As we walked through the exhibit, I took a closer look at some of the paintings. Some of these were not done by Mark Rothko himself, but by someone else. Two paintings that I was staring at looked oddly familiar; they were drawn by Jackson Pollock. I smiled as I knew of Jackson Pollock, but these weren’t his famous drip paintings, these were a few of his earlier paintings.

Mark Rothko was similar to Jackson Pollock when it came to his work. Both of their styles of painting changed throughout the decades, it was very noticeable. Pollock’s work was actual paintings of figures, animals or people in his earlier work. Being from Wyoming he would paint western or Native American themes. He then changed his style to his more famous drip painting; he would drip and smear paint onto the canvas. Rothko started out painting figures, though they were mostly paintings of mythological creatures. He later transformed his work into mere paint smudges on canvas, where colors often merged together from dry brushing or adding globs of paint here and there, then later scraping it off. His final work was broad lines of color, layered onto the canvas. Both artist lives ending tragically, but their work continues to draw attention.

I am hoping to make another trip back to the Arkansas Art Center. I did enjoy my time there, though I was interested in seeing a Picasso and a Van Gogh in person. Neither paintings were up, but I was told that as soon as the Rothko exhibit was taken down, there would be a possibility that Picasso and Van Gogh would be placed back into the gallery for all to see again.   

Artwork Adds a Splash of Color to the I30 Bridge

Before the Clinton library was built on Markham Street, the underside of the I30 bridge was more or less decorated with graffiti and litter. The city put good money to use by cleaning up the area, even patching the sidewalks and adding sculptures and artwork. The artwork adds a better splash of color than the graffiti.

In November 2004, over 3,500 hand painted tiles, made by surrounding Little Rock students, were placed on the underside of the I30 bridge, receiving positive attention to the many tourist that frequent that area. I myself had to get a closer look. One specific tile grabbed my attention as it represented Autism, something that I am quite familiar with.

Dueling in Arkansas

Yesterday, my daughter and I had gone to see a re-enactment of a duel at the Plantation Museum in Scott, Arkansas.

When you here the words Civil War, you might think of Gettysburg, or Robert E. Lee, or Ft Sumter, North Carolina. Not a lot of people know that quite a few Civil War skirmishes happened here in Arkansas.

The duel between two Confederate Generals, Major General John S. Marmaduke and Brigadier General Lucius Marshall Walker, was somewhat famous here in Arkansas as dueling was forbidden and outlawed by 1820.

The duel was set up by Marmaduke’s and Walker’s assistants corresponding with one another on the fact that one General called the other General a coward. The duel occurred eight miles south of Little Rock on the early morning of September 6, 1863. Marmaduke wounded Walker, who would later die of his injuries. Marmaduke was arrested and imprisoned. 

Things in Arkansas wasn’t going very well as it were as Union troops had captured the capitol, forcing the Confederate army to retreat.

Harriet Tubman Statue in Little Rock

Last night I went to a Archeological Society meeting in Little Rock, down from the Clinton Presidential Center. I had a few minutes before I met up with some other college students attending the same meeting, so I took this opportunity to take a stroll.

I had parked under the I30 bridge, on the opposite side of the Clinton Library, on E. Markham St. On the back side of E. Markham street is the Ottenheimer Plaza and the Arkansas River Trail. Along the Arkansas River trail you would find many sculptures, adorned with plaques on who donated the sculpture and what the sculpture is called.

I didn’t walk the entire trail as it is quite extensive and it was a very hot day, but I stopped and snapped a few pictures of the Clinton library and some of the sculptures and artwork in the area I was in.

It reads: “Children if you’re tired, keep going. If you’re hungry, keep going. If you’re scared, keep going. If you want the taste of freedom, keep going.”

One sculpture in particular caught my eye. It is of a woman holding the hand of a little child. Me being a mother of a three year old and quite used to holding my daughter’s hand as I walk, thought oh what a cute sculpture. I snapped a picture, then read the plaque to see what it was called and who the artist was. The Plaque said it is Harriet Tubman. Being a person who loves History my first reaction was, oh how cool is this!

I wasn’t able to research why there was a Harriet Tubman sculpture near the Clinton library until today when I found another wordpress blog explaining more about it.

Click this link to find out more about the sculpture: http://lrculturevulture.com/2012/02/12/sculpture-vulture-harriet-tubman/

The Shoppach House

A few months ago my parents, nephew, daughter, and I visited The Shoppach House Historic Park, located on 503 North Main Street Benton, Arkansas. It is a Historical Landmark and is also a rare opportunity to be able to visit the place, as it’s never open. I had the pleasure of talking to a nice elderly woman who gave me quite a story of the house and the Union Army that occupied it. A few men and women from the ‘Sons of Confederate Veterans David O’Dodd Camp 619’ were there, dressed in period clothing, as well as in Civil War uniforms. They had a cannon that they were firing off every hour and were also showing guns, bullets, and other pieces from the Civil War Era.

The Shoppach House is the oldest structure in central Arkansas and was once owned by a German immigrant farmer, John F. Shoppach. He and his wife, Siddy, had 11 children, 6 of them survived passed infancy.

The house was built in 1852; the local Native Americans made the bricks that were used to build the house. John F. Shoppach died at the age of 52 in 1861.

In 1863, Union Army Soldiers occupied most of Benton. Some of them camped across the street from the Shoppach House; Fort Bussy was just down the street where the water towers now stand today. In September 1863, Union Soldiers commandeered the Shoppach House.

‘Built in 1852 of bricks made on the site, this is the oldest house standing in Benton. In April, 1861, Saline County’s Company E, First Arkansas Infantry, Confederate States of America, was presented with a battle flag made by the ladies of Benton. The ceremony was held in the Shoppach house yard, following which the company left for Virginia, where it took part in the Battle of Bull Run, and subsequently, other major battles. When Benton was occupied by the Union Army in 1863, Union Army officers took quarters in the Shoppach house.’

Also, behind the Shoppach House is the Pilgrims Rest Church built in the 1860’s andthe DeToni Post Office built in the 1940’s.

A Little History on a Town Called Prattsville

I thought that I would share a little bit of historical knowledge about the town that I’m using for my novel. I spent an entire day at the Grant Count Museum in Sheridan, Arkansas, going through the museum and thumbing through many books looking for specific information. My parents still live in Prattsville, so I tend to ask my dad if he remembers this or if he can go visit that for me. Most of the time I make the road trip (45 minute drive) and do a scenic tour myself.

The town that I’m using for my novel is called Pratt. It is a real town, though it was called Pratt’s Ferry named after John Pratt. It had a very small population in the 1840’s. Later in 1857 a post office was built, officially naming the town Prattsville; the post office is still in operation today. Pratt’s Ferry was still used to cross the Saline River until a bridge was built in 1913. Prattsville today has a population of 282. It’s located on Highway 270 and 291.

Prattsville school was built in 1930, closed in 1994, and torn down in 2002. My sisters and I were students at Prattsville until it closed. The students were split between the two closest towns, Poyen and Sheridan; two towns that I also use in my novel. I re-built the school for my novel as two of the characters are school age.

Another place that I use is the restaurant that is still located in Prattsville called The Whippet. It was named after the school mascot. In my novel I changed the name of the restaurant just to be safe. But if you ever decide to visit Prattsville, be sure to stop at The Whippet and ask for their bowl of mixed beans, they’re the best! The Whippet also has a lot of other great items on the menu and the staff is wonderful and really friendly. They have a guest book next to the register for everyone to sign. I’ve noticed people from all over the world have visited there.

A few other places that I use are the city hall and a Sheriff’s station. Prattsville has a city hall, but does not have a Sheriff’s station. After doing some research from the surrounding towns, I’ve come to realize that small country towns can have Sheriff sub-stations and that’s what I’m using in my novel. The main Sheriff’s station is in Sheridan (actual fact, which I also added in my novel).